Credit:
Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser
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Credit:
Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser
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When it comes to air frying, this knocked it out of the park. The downside is that this is a big, heavy, machine that's noisier than most. Read More
Food from the Cosori Premium 5.8-Quart Air Fryer emerges crispy. And while it's big and boxy, this air fryer still looks better than most. Read More
As an 1,800-watt toaster and air fryer, this can help you prepare a variety of delicious food products at anywhere from 80 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Read More
If you’re looking for an appliance to air fry and do it well, this Cuisinart is well worth your consideration. Read More
While it doesn’t have digital controls, it's very simple to operate; simply turn the temperature and time dials for an intuitive two-step process. Read More
Looking for the best air fryer to buy? After years of extensive research and hands-on testing dozens of these small appliances, we can confidently say that the Philips Premium Airfryer XXL (available at Amazon for $266.99) is our top pick for your kitchen.
Its results are closest to using a deep fryer, making crispy, juicy foods, without the extra calories or trans fats. Plus, like many air fryers, it includes dishwasher-safe parts for easy cleanup.
For tight budgets, our best value is the Cosori Air Fryer Max XL 5.8-Quart (available at Amazon). It cooks food evenly at a low price.
Air fryers have become a popular, healthy alternative for making crispy chicken wings, french fries, tasty desserts, and easily frying frozen foods at the push of a button. Manufacturers have even started incorporating the technology into other kitchen appliances including full-size ovens. Or they can be found doing double-duty with pressure cookers or toaster ovens.
If you're looking to save kitchen counter space, we recommend the Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven (available at Amazon). Like all top-performing air fryers, it successfully circulates hot air around your food, but also has all the functionality of a great toaster oven, too.
These are the best air fryers we tested ranked, in order:
What makes the Philips Airfryer XXL our best overall is that it’s consistently the very best at air frying, even with large family-size portions.
The Cosori Premium 5.8-Quart Air Fryer is our best value pick because it's great at air frying for its low price.
The Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven impressed is the best multifunctional appliance we tested.
Hi, I'm Sharon Franke, and I’ve been reviewing kitchen equipment for more than 30 years. Before that, I worked as a professional chef in New York City restaurants for seven years. Now I’m an avid home cook.
While I’ve made French fries and pan-fried chicken breast cutlets countless times, they’re not in heavy rotation in my house these days. Just like you, I want to avoid the oil and all that work that comes with frying. That’s why I was thrilled to test whether air fryers could satisfy my hankerings for crispy food, fat- and fuss-free.
In order to test air fryers, we cooked up dozens of batches of french fries and nuggets, as well as Nashville hot chicken and burgers.
To find the top performers, we rated each appliance on how well it cooked fresh (from scratch) and frozen French fries and chicken nuggets, as well as how well each model grilled hamburgers.
Since each appliance is unique and there are all types of air fryers on the market now, you’ll be relying on the manual to get started. I checked to see if each explained how to use the product thoroughly, provided guidelines for cooking specific foods, and included recipes.
I also considered how easy it was to use the controls (for both manual and digital air fryers), slide the basket in and out, and clean up.
As you may not use this appliance daily, I also checked to see how easy it would be to store and stash away.
For starters, it's not actually a fryer, but rather a convection oven that includes a heating element and a fan that circulates hot air around foods in a basket. Using at most a half-tablespoon of cooking oil, the appliance will brown and crisp up food. However, it doesn't always deliver the same combination of all-over crunchiness and perfect tenderness as frying in oil.
These appliances don't require more than a few minutes to preheat, so they deliver the goods faster than deep-frying. Plus, during testing, we discovered they didn’t emit any cooking odors, so your house won't smell like a chicken shack.
These devices are easy to use and often easy to clean. Always check the manufacturer's instructions, but most will follow these basic procedures:
1. Preheat before cooking
Many air fryers need time to come to temperature before cooking. In general, preheat to 375°F for 3-5 minutes, depending on the size of the fryer.
2. Don’t overcrowd the food and lay food down flat
Just like conventional frying, overloading your air fryer—especially with frozen foods—could produce soggy or uneven results. Plus, it could also increase the cooking time.
3. Flip while frying
Don't forget to batter and/or bread items properly before dropping them into the air fryer, and be sure to flip your food halfway through the cooking process.
Also, keep an eye on your food while it cooks. This will let you adjust timing as necessary and help get you used to your new appliance.
4. Clean the air fryer when you're done
Don’t forget to clean the appliance after cooking and the device has cooled down. Food particles can get lodged in the nooks and crannies, building up over time and causing issues down the line.
There are so many great air fryer recipes (especially for families)! These appliances can do everything from bake, broil and help cook meats, casseroles, or even desserts. They are, of course, limited by their size and don’t offer any advantage over a traditional oven. But if you need an extra oven or don’t want to heat the kitchen, these countertop appliances are helpful.
Some popular air fryre recipes include:
Uncomplicated to program
Doesn't require preheating
Foods come out crispy
Helpful manual
Controls aren't digital
Parts are not dishwasher safe or nonstick
Food comes out crispy
Simple to operate
Multiple colors available
Controls aren’t digital
Basket is tricky to remove
Parts are not dishwasher safe
An air fryer and multi-cooker in one
Digital controls
Food comes out crispy
Very large
Cookbook not helpful
Noisy
Cooks very well
Includes air fryer function
Versatile
Oversized
Small
Doesn't require preheating
basket is nonstick and dishwasher safe
Controls aren't digital
Cooks only one-half pound of food well
It's an air fryer, toaster, and countertop oven
Has digital controls
Foods come out crispy
Large
Manual isn't helpful
Parts aren't dishwasher safe
Doesn't require preheating
Has digital controls
Includes recipe book
Basket is tricky to remove
We've always loved Instant Pot. But if you've never used an air fryer before, we can't recommend the Instant Vortex Plus (available at Walmart). Its "Getting Started Guide" wasn’t very helpful. We also found cooking with the included tray yielded better results than the basket the manufacturer suggested using. Still, if you don't mind a lot of trial and error, this device can produce solid results.
We've reviewed a few Krups models. We like the Krups Easy Fry Deluxe Digital (available at Amazon) a bit better than the Krups Fry Delight thanks to its design and cooking results. However, neither are very close to mimicking the crispiness of food that came out of a traditional deep fryer.
Farberware 3.2 quart Digital Oil-Less Fryer (available at Amazon) is very inexpensive and does a decent job of crisping and browning, especially with frozen foods. However, the basket sticks and it's a little confusing to use.
The generic-looking Power Air XL (available at Amazon) has a small capacity, and its basket doesn't glide out very smoothly.
The Black and Decker 2L Purifry (available at Amazon) is a big appliance, but comes with a much smaller basket. With no digital controls and tiny numbers, it's really difficult to set your temperature precisely.
Sharon Franke
Contributor
Sharon has been testing kitchen equipment for the past 30 years. Before becoming a cooking tools maven, she worked as a professional chef in New York City restaurants for seven years.
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